


Oh Brother

by VeteranKlaus



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood and Gore, Major Character Injury, Violence
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-04-27
Packaged: 2020-01-31 16:38:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18595249
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VeteranKlaus/pseuds/VeteranKlaus
Summary: Klaus says fuck it, his sister needs him. What's the worst she can do? Kill him?In which Klaus goes to Vanya instead of Allison.





	1. Chapter 1

Klaus had never really paid much attention to the whole apocalypse thing that Five spoke about, nor had he really paid much attention to it until the whole hey, Vanya's dating the man who's about to end the world. That certainly caught his attention.

Klaus had never liked Leonard. Allison had had her own doubts that she had told Klaus about, and Klaus had his own doubts. He knew what men with hidden intentions looked like, he knew what liars looked like, what manipulators looked like, and he could tick every box for Leonard simply from Allison's rants. Leonard was the kind of man to show himself as everyone a vulnerable person could ever want, could and would keep his façade up for weeks, months, however long it took to get what he wanted, and none would be the wiser. Klaus knew that was the kind of man Leonard was, and if they didn't do something soon - Five said they only had, like, a day anyway - then Vanya would be the one to get hurt. He couldn't let that happen. 

So, Klaus left. They found out where Vanya and Leonard might be and while everyone argued over what was happening, Klaus stole Diego's car and left.

Sure, Klaus couldn't legally drive, but he'd watched Diego drive plenty of times, so surely it couldn't be that hard.

"I'm so glad I'm dead," Ben blurts. He's in the passenger seat, pressing himself into the seat as much as a ghost can and staring longingly at the seat belt.

"That's rude," states Klaus, pouting and turning to look at him.

"Eyes on the road, Klaus!" Ben cries, eyes wide with terror. Klaus glares at him but faces forwards again. They hadn't even swerved!

"Stop being so dramatic," he scolds, clicking his tongue. "I'm not bad at this!"

"You said you met God, right? Heaven's real?"

"Ben!"

"I've literally never been more glad that you're sober right now."

" _Ben_!"

"Diego's going to kill you if you live through this."

"Well, I know _that_."

"Slow down!"

" _Calm_ down, Ben!"

Ben doesn't look any less scared as Klaus drives, though Klaus thinks he's doing a great job so long as he remembers to slow down at the corners and watch for things on the road. His fingers twitch and tap along the steering wheel, his heart pounding in his ears. He doesn't know what kind of scene he's going to come upon. Is Leonard going to be there? Is he going to have to make some bullshit excuse about needing Vanya to come back home? Is he going to have to fight? Klaus just hopes Leonard isn't in and he can have a nice chat with Vanya.

He pokes at the buttons in Diego's car until music starts to play, some CD in his car that Diego probably didn't want any of them to hear, if he can take anything from the fact that  _ABBA_ begins to play from the speakers. Klaus isn't complaining, however. He loves _ABBA_ , and the upbeat music helps to relieve his nerves slightly. 

Klaus follows the directions he remembers until he pulls up to some little house nearby a lake. It's peaceful and nice, but as Klaus steps out of Diego's car, he can't help but feel the way the air is static, thrumming with Klaus' own anxiety. The trees around him shake with a strong breeze, and Klaus wraps his arms around himself while he approaches the door.

"Allison needs help, Allison needs help, Allison needs helped," he mutters, bracing himself to have to talk his way out of a situation if Leonard's around. He knows Vanya's probably closest with Allison out of all of them. If she was to come for any of them after their arguments, it'd be for Allison. 

He can hear violin even from outside, and he hurries to the door. He knocks a few times, hunching his shoulders against the strong winds, but upon receiving no answer he tries the handle and finds it unlocked. With a shrug, Klaus opens up the door and steps inside. 

Vanya's there, her back to him and her violin in her hands. Even in here the wind still reaches them, swaying all the decorations and lights inside.

"Vanya?" Klaus calls, closing the door behind him. His sister startles, her music cutting off abruptly as she turns to look at him. 

"Hey, Vanya. Where have you been? We've been looking for you," he says softly. 

"What are you doing here?" Vanya asks, lowering her instrument to her side.

"I - I wanted to make sure you were alright. Are you okay?" He asks, stepping closer. He's noticed that the wind seems to die down now, but he doesn't think much about it.

Vanya cocks her head to the side. "Yeah," she replies, "I'm fine."

"Good, good - I - there's something weird going on here, Vanya, I don't know what's causing it but..." Klaus trails off, looking at the swinging lights outside the windows. "I don't know, it's not, uh, normal. Even Ben agrees, but I think he's just in shock from driving here."

"It's me," Vanya tells him, then, "you drove here?"

Klaus laughs a little, rocking on his feet. "Yeah, I stole Diego's car and came here - Ben says he's going to kill me, and I don't doubt it - and I'm actually a good driver!" He says, beaming. "Wait, wait, hold up. Rewind. What do you mean 'it's me', Vanya?" 

Vanya's eyes flick to the window and then back to Klaus.

"It's me," she repeats, "doing this. I made those thins happen... with my powers." 

Klaus isn't sure what to say to that, though it seems his expression gives away his confusion anyway as Vanya continues.

"Turns out I've had them all this time. It's weird, isn't it?"

Klaus scoffs, shaking his head in disbelief. "That's - Vanya - that's incredible!" He exclaims, and he takes a final few steps towards her and puts a hand on her shoulder. She seems to perk up at Klaus' encouragement, and she sets her violin aside. "That's great, Vanya. Really. But that means... _fuck_. Reginald was such a prick, holy shit," he says, and he feels horror bubble in his stomach. So that means Reginald must have known... 

"The pills," Klaus adds in a whisper, and Vanya nods sadly.

"Shit, Vanya, I'm... I'm so sorry," he murmurs, and he can't help but pull his sister into a hug. He feels Vanya tense against him before hesitantly reaching out to wrap her arms around Klaus in return, her head resting against him. 

Eventually, Klaus pulls back and rubs the back of his eyes. "Vanya, I think we should go. There's... there's something you need to know, Vanya. Come to the car with me," he requests, lightly nudging her to try and urge her on. 

"What is it?" She asks, hesitating on the spot. "I'm staying here, Klaus. I don't want to go back."

Klaus deflates. He turns back to his sister and he slouches, looking awkwardly at his feet. Maybe he should just wait for the others to catch up and let Allison explain - he knew they wouldn't be far behind. But then, he doesn't know when Leonard will be back, as it seems he's out at the moment is as well.

"I... you're not gonna like this, Vanya," he tells her regretfully. Maybe he shouldn't tell her. He glances to Ben who's by his side and nods encouragingly when Klaus hesitates.

"What is it? Klaus?" Vanya asks. He hears the wind pick up with her anxiety, feels a draft break in through a window. 

Klaus sighs, running a hand down his face. "It's Leonard," he says. "He's not who you think you he is. Allison did some digging on him, Vanya. His name's Harold Jenkins and he was in jail, Vanya, for twelve years because he murdered his dad."                

Vanya's eyebrows draw together, confusion and hurt flickering across her face. "What - he's not like that, Klaus. That's - that's crazy, you can't just say things like that," she defends, shaking her head. Klaus reaches out to touch her again but she cringes away from his hand, so he pulls it back to his chest.

"I know it sounds insane, I get that, but I'm telling the truth. We have the police files at home - I forgot to grab it, I'm sorry - and we can prove it. He's not safe for you Vanya," Klaus insists.

Vanya stands silent for a moment, disbelief on her face before she steps past Klaus to sit down.

"This is all insane," she says, running her hands through her hair. "The - the powers, Leonard... no."

Klaus lets out a sigh, crouching down by her side. "I know, I know. I'm sorry, Vanya. I can't imagine what it must be like to - to find out you have powers that your dad and fucking sister made you forget. And then Leonard coming in, and now this - it must be terrifying, but I want to help -"

"What did you say?" Vanya interrupts, wide eyed.

Klaus raises an eyebrow. "Uh, what? I'm just sorry about all of this, Vanya," he says, cocking his head to the side.

"Allison," Vanya says, "you said 'dad and sister made you forget'. What - what do you mean? Klaus?"

Klaus feels the colour drain from his face. Shit. He hadn't meant to say that - not yet. Earlier, Allison had brainstormed with a couple of them and had ended up admitting to what she had done to Vanya when they were four. Klaus was still angry with her for that.

"Klaus?" Vanya insists, growing more panicked, and Klaus hurries to reassure her.

"I - hey, hey, I'll explain, let me explain. I... fuck, alright. Allison, she was worried about you with Leonard, yeah? And she told us how dad said you were sick somewhere, and dad made her rumour you into thinking you were ordinary. She didn't want to, Vanya, but..."

She stands up abruptly. "You all knew," she accuses, her voice low with horror. "You all... you all knew that I had powers -"

"Vanya, no, no," Klaus says, standing and waving his hands. "No, it's not like that. We didn't know until Allison told us."

"And you didn't tell me?" 

"I'm here! I came here as quickly as I could, Vanya. I want to help you - you're my sister, I love you, Vanya," Klaus insists, eyes soft. Vanya's panicking, the wind outside buffeting against the windows and howling. 

"Don't say that!" She snaps, her hands by her side. "You don't mean that! You're always lying, you're lying now! You're... you're upset that I'm actually special. What, do you think I'm a - a _threat_ to all of you? Because you wanted the _limelight_?" She laughs coldly, glaring at Klaus who spluttered to try and backtrack, though the damage was done. He shared a glance with Ben, also wide eyed and unsure of how to fix it.

"Vanya, _please_. It's not like that. Me and Ben want to help you," he pleads, taking a step forwards. Vanya glares at him and he raises his hands in a non threatening gesture, and his sister scoffs nastily.

"Do _not_ bring Ben into this!" She yells, and her hand lashes out, snatching up her violin bow on the way. Klaus doesn't have a moment to consider what might happen - he doesn't think Vanya does, either - but then pain, shooting from his left hand, across his throat, finishing in his right hand. Blood weeps out from his cut palms and throat, and he hears Vanya scream while his hands fly to his throat. He can't _breathe_.

Vanya's hands fly around him, trying to steady him, and she follows him to the floor when his knees go out. 

"Klaus, Klaus, Klaus, oh my god, Klaus - I didn't - I didn't mean it, I'm so sorry, Klaus, _please_."

He hears the front door open. He can't focus on that, though, spluttering like a fish out of water. One of his hands push at his throat, the other on Vanya's arm and he mouths  _it's okay,_ before she's torn away from him. There's a whirlwind of Leonard yelling at Vanya to leave while he grabs some random belongings, and then they're gone. Klaus can't even see Ben, though at least he can hear him like he's under water, begging  _Klaus, Klaus, you need to stop the bleeding, please, stay awake Klaus, the others are coming, look at me, Klaus, look at me._

Klaus thinks they aren't going to get to him in time. There's too much blood and it's not stopping, and they all know it.

The room warps like it does when he's had a bad trip, and he hears the door open once more. There's muffled, incoherent voices and thuds, and then there's hands on him, shaking fingers by his throat, and Klaus sees Diego's eyes in front of him and knows they're too late. 

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

There's many downsides to dying. Of course, though, anyone would think that; death wasn't exactly a positive thing. Ben had hit the jackpot with being able to be a ghost and also having a brother who could speak to the dead. Unfortunately, said brother always seemed to have a death wish. Ben had been by his side almost since the exact moment he had died. He had seen his brother make the same bad decisions over and over and over again, watched as he let his relationships with his siblings kindle (although that certainly hadn't been just his fault) and watched as he took everything for granted and threw his life away. Although Ben had resigned himself to the never-ending-ness of death a long time ago, it was hard to accept the fact that you had nothing, and would never have the chance of speaking to his family again (excluding Klaus), would never be able to grow, to learn, to explore, to do anything, while your brother threw any and every possibility and opportunity away. Of course Ben understood why Klaus lived such a reckless life - he knew better than anyone - but it didn't make it any easier. Arguably, the worst part of it all, was being able to watch your brother ruin himself and not be able to do a thing about it. The most Ben could ever do was speak, and although he had spoken Klaus through plenty of bad situations, that had never been enough to stop his tumble further into drugs. Ben was helpless, and he hated it. 

Even now, as he watched Klaus' knees buckle and blood pour out of him like a dam had been broke, he could do nothing. Part of him begged Vanya to phone an ambulance, phone someone, anyone, because his hands only went straight through Klaus and caused his brother to shiver. Or perhaps that was simply the pain, or the blood loss, or the betrayal, or -

The man they had just exposed comes into the house, then, and Ben notices the way his lips twitch upwards upon the sight of Klaus and Vanya. Obviously, he knows about her powers. It makes Ben's stomach drop. In her shock and horror, Vanya can't stop Leonard when he pulls her out of the house, and suddenly it's too quiet, too empty, and Klaus is on the floor in his own blood making sounds that makes Ben nauseous.

Ben drops to his knees on the bloody floor next to his brother. He watches Klaus' eyes roll around in a daze, the way his hand twitches painfully on the floor, the other loose above his throat. His fingers stain bloody track marks on his cheeks. 

"Klaus," gasps Ben, his hands hovering uselessly above him, "Klaus, look at me, look at me, Klaus, keep your eyes open, keep - _fuck_."

He can't do anything. He knows his siblings are on the way, but Klaus stole Diego's car so that'll delay them even more. They might decide to not even come. 

Klaus eyes roll towards him, looking straight through him, and he mouths words but the only sound that comes it is a horrible gurgle, and Ben has to look away, even if he feels bad for it.

"The others are coming, Klaus," he whispers, "just hang on, please, please."

The others don't even know how hard Klaus has been trying lately. He knows Klaus has made bad decisions, but he knows how hard he's been trying lately, and the others don't. Now they might never understand. 

Ben stares at him, and when he mouths  _I'm dying, I'm dying, I don't wanna die, help, help me,_ Ben covers his face with his hands and chokes out a sob.

The door burst open. Klaus doesn't react, but Ben jumps up to watch Luther barge in, Klaus' name dying on his lips. Diego walks into Luther's back and curses, and then they step around him to come upon the sight.

 _"Help him!"_ Ben yells hoarsely, his fists shaking by his side, even if he knows he's completely invisible to them all.

Diego shoves past a frozen Luther, snapping to work. His hands twitch over Klaus as if he doesn't know where to start. He settles on pulling Klaus against his chest, murmuring things too quiet for Ben to catch. Ben watches anxiously, shifting on the spot. He needs help now. 

"We need to get him home," Five snaps, standing by Diego's shoulders. His eyes, sharp and cold, are stuck on Klaus, though his fingers fidget by his side and his face has lost its colour. 

Diego looks up, fingers tightening in Klaus' clothes, but he nods. 

Luther's there, then, swapping places with Diego so he can grab his upper body while Diego goes for his legs. Five teleports to the car, opening the doors, and Allison hurries to get into the drivers seat and start it up. Ben hurries by their side, following after them. Every time he reaches out, his hand falls right through him.

Five sits in the back, and so does Diego, and they both clutch onto Klaus as the car takes off. Five's taken his tie off, handing it to Diego and instructing his shocked brother to tie it around the wound on his neck. 

"Drive, Allison!" Diego snaps. He's clutching Klaus so tightly Ben wants to tell him to calm down, afraid he'll only hurt him more, but he can only watch from his spot on the car floor. He wants to know how cold Klaus is, wants to reach out and find his pulse - no one else has. Ben thinks they're purposefully not reaching for it. It would make it too real. When he looks around, Ben's paranoid he's going to see Klaus pop up beside him.

Klaus doesn't move. He doesn't make a sound, either. It's everything Klaus isn't and shouldn't ever be, and Ben hates it. He can't bring himself to watch his chest, however. 

"Le - Leonard must have d - done this," Diego stammers, looking up at his siblings. "He did this. We have to - to find them."

"Wait until we know Klaus is alive or not," Five snaps. He's antsy, muscles tense and riled up, hands on Klaus' legs trembling. 

"Don't say that!" Diego hisses, watery eyes glaring darkly at Five.

"Look at him, Diego! If he's not dead now, then we need to get home before he _is_ , not chase after Leonard right now!"

Ben covers his ears. He doesn't want to hear them arguing when Klaus is right _there_ , like _that_. Ben wants to tell them how selfish they all are.

There's a painful screech from the tires as Allison pulls the car to a stop outside of the academy, though it hasn't stopped and Diego's throwing the car door open. He and Luther go back to carrying Klaus into the academy with sloppy hands that make Ben's heart stutter. Klaus' hand trails the ground limply, leaving a trail of red.

Ben stands in the doorway, his feet glued to the spot. He watches his siblings run by, know they're calling for Grace, but he can't bring himself to follow. His brother could be dead, and he couldn't do a thing to help. His hands ball into fists and he presses them against his wet eyes, taking several long, slow breaths. He doesn't need to breathe, but he feels like he has to right now. He feels like there's blood on his hands that's not his and he can still hear distant chaos as they hurry Klaus into Grace's care. He can hear yelling, too. Diego, yelling in anger and guilt. Allison trying to calm him down, and Luther defending himself. There's a  _pop_ and then a fizzle, and with a flash of blue light, Five's standing in the hallway. He looks frazzled, more unkempt than Ben has ever seen him, and without anyone here to watch him (to his knowledge) he paces, hands fiddling, jaw clenched. 

He's distracted, so when something slowly fades into his peripheral, he doesn't notice it at first.

"Wow, he looks stressed."

Ben jumps, whipping around to look at him. His jaw drops, and Klaus grins at him. It doesn't quite reach his eyes. He's still covered in blood.

"K-Klaus?" He asks, hesitant.

"That's me," he laughs emptily, and then he looks at his bloody hands. He can see bone. "I know they were already messy, but now they're never gonna look as good as they did."

"Klaus... no. You can't be here. Klaus, no," Ben rambles, becoming more frantic as it dawns on him. 

Klaus stares at his hands. "Yeah... well, we don't always get what we want, do we?" He hums, tipping his head back. "Kinda a dick move for God to say it's not my time only to kill me, like, a day later," he snorts. 

"Are you okay?" asks Ben, gentle-voiced. 

Klaus bites his lip and glances away, then shrugs. "Didn't think Vanya would kill me," he comments, and Ben runs a hand down his face. 

"Well... shit."

"Shit indeed."

They sit silently like that for a few more moments. Ben doesn't know what to say. Klaus comforted him after he had died, but Ben hadn't ever imagined that he'd have to do the same. 

"Something doesn't feel right."

Ben turns to look at his brother, raising an eyebrow. "What do you mean?"

Klaus looks sick. He's staring at the floor in front of him as if it's crumbling away before their eyes, his mouth moving to answer Ben silently. Then, blood starts trickling out of his wounds, and then he's gone.

Ben looks around, confused. "Klaus?" He calls, rising to his feet. There's no trace of him anywhere, and Ben can only guess what happens.

He hurries forwards, diving into the room and immediately wishing he hadn't. He can't see Klaus first because of his siblings crowding around one another. Diego's yelling with bloodshot eyes and Allison's standing between him and Luther, crying and telling them to stop. Luther looks guilty and defensive, hands still stained with blood and curled into fists by his side. Pogo's standing by the side, tensely watching Klaus and Grace with a distressed expression. 

Grace is working around them like they're not arguing, skilled hands fluttering around Klaus. She steps aside as Diego steps forwards, shoving Allison, who stumbles back and knocks the bed Klaus is on. Everyone hurries forwards as the bed tips to the side, but Ben makes it there first.

He reaches out, grabbing the bed frame with one hand and throwing his other arm out across Klaus' body. He turns to glare at his shocked siblings. 

" _Stop it_!" He cries. "Just stop! Look at him!"

Everyone's staring at him. Everyone's _staring_ right at him. 

"B - Ben?" Luther stammers, his eyes blown wide. "Ben? Is that you?" 

Ben's eyebrows draw together. "You can see me?" 

"Holy shit, Ben," breathes Diego, and he reaches out with a shaky hand to touch his shoulder. Like a trigger, it falls through him and Ben's own hands fall through the bed and Klaus. However, they're still looking right at him. Or, where Diego's hands were, at least.

"Wh - what? Ben? What's going on?"

"Klaus needs a blood transfusion," Grace interrupts, smiling sweetly at them all. She glances at Ben and inclines her head. "Now."

Ben isn't sure what's happening - if it's Klaus' powers acting oddly while he's in this state, or if he's doing it consciously, although he doubts that - but he doesn't think it'll work for long. 

"Help him," he urges in a shaky voice. When Allison starts to unroll her sleeve and reach out for Grace, he smiles shakily at them before they stop looking at him.

Grace draws Allison's blood, and Ben watches in silence. They look around as if expecting Ben to still be around. Unfortunately, he isn't. 

It's set them into motion, however, and broken up their fighting. Once Grace has fixed up the blood transfusion, they all sit down around the room. Klaus is far from fine, but Grace says he's stable for now.

They all slump in relief, Ben included. His heart's still pounding and he longs to reach out and find his pulse under his fingertips for himself, the image of Klaus, tinted blue and transparent, still burned into him. 

"What was that?" Luther speaks up quietly, looking around the room. "Ben... that was Ben here."

They all look awkward, unsure of what had happened as well. "Klaus said he was trying to get sober," Diego mutters. "Maybe it's his powers."

They turn their eyes to their brother, still unresponsive and unconscious. 

"We shouldn't have let him go," sighs Diego, shaking his head.

"He left by himself," Allison responded gently. "We couldn't have stopped him. But we still got there in time. We... we need to be there for him."

Diego huffs in frustration but he nods in agreement, choosing to turn and watch Klaus. Ben doesn't like how pale he is, how unresponsive he is. He still can't do anything, however, so he slides into an empty chair in the room and listens to the unsteady mechanical beeping of his heart. 

 

 

He's the first to notice when Klaus wakes up. He can see it in the scrunch of his face, the twitch of his fingers. He sits up almost immediately at the small movements, looking around the room. Allison had left earlier to get them all coffee, and Five had returned after a while. They hadn't spoken, all simply waiting for Klaus to wake up, although none of them noticed it yet.

A small sound escapes his lips and his eyelids peel open, and then he panics. He tries to sit up, gripping onto the bed before he keens and pulls his hands to his chest. 

Diego gets to his feet, hurrying to the beds side. He reaches out to set a hand on Klaus' shoulder, pulling his attention to him.

"Hey, Klaus, hey, you're alright," he hushes, "take a moment, breathe. How are you feeling?" He asks, thumb rubbing circles on his shoulder.

Klaus closes his eyes, taking in a shuddering breath. Then he opens his eyes and looks down at his bandaged hands and running his fingers along the bandage on his throat.

He opens his mouth and tries to say something. No sound comes out, and when Klaus tries to clear his throat, he cringes in pain. Diego, looking almost apologetic, fetched the notepad and pen that Grace had put aside, and he hands it to Klaus who takes it with wide eyes. He looks around, and eventually his eyes settle on Ben. 

"You're okay, Klaus," says Ben. "You're alive."

Klaus fingers return to his throat and Ben shuffles awkwardly.

"Yeah... it's about time I got some peace," he jokes half-heartedly, and Klaus offers him a small, brief smile at his attempts. He clicks the pen on and lifts it to the paper, but when he tries to grip it properly and put enough force behind his grip to write, his face scrunches up and he drops the pen. He stares at it in his lap, frustrated, and no one really knows what to do until Klaus' tired face perks up. He raises his hand again and then, in slightly sloppy and shaky movements, he makes several movements. He looks pointedly at Diego, then around the room. 

"I don't know what you're doing," Diego says, looking at the others. Luther shakes his head, and Ben smiles, unseen.

"They're dumb, Klaus," he says, soft, and Klaus' lips twitch upwards. He can tell by the tension in his shoulders and the barely restrained distress, he's having a hard time coping this quickly. Ben doesn't blame him. He watches as he repeats the hand gestures with more purpose. When no one recognises it, Klaus closes his eyes and slumps into the bed.

"Vanya," states Five, "she's not here." 

Klaus cracks an eye open to stare eagerly at Five. Five shrugs. "I picked up some sign language with the commission."

"Maybe those youtube lessons will finally be handy," comments Ben, smiling at Klaus. Klaus' breath hitches in a quiet snort, tipping his head in a nod.

Diego and Luther look at Five with curious expressions, but Five ignores them, watching as Klaus' fingers move shakily again. He gets to _'Leo'_ before Five speaks again.

"Did he do that to you, Klaus?" He asks, voice low.

Klaus hesitates, eyes flicking to Ben.

Klaus closes his eyes and shakes his head.

 

 

 

Reluctantly, Klaus signs what had happened to Five, who translates it out to everyone else. By the time Allison returns with coffee for them all, Klaus is half-asleep once more, having given up on asking Five for any more painkillers. There's still tension in the room and he can just feel them waiting to ask something, and Ben debates on starting the conversation. To Klaus, at least.

"Klaus?" Luther asks, voice hesitant. Klaus opens his eyes to look over at him, raising his eyebrows.

"Earlier... can you see Ben?"

Klaus looks over to where Ben's sitting in an otherwise empty chair, and Ben waves subtly. Klaus nods his head.

There's been a few times that Ben's been brought up, usually always by Klaus. His siblings, for whatever reason, had never believed him when he said he was able to see Ben as a ghost. Ben suspects it was from their own grief and denial, but it was still stupid.

"Earlier, he was here. He spoke to us, but Diego couldn't touch him, and he disappeared. Did you do that?" Luther asks. The question startles both Klaus and Five, and Klaus turns to look at Ben, who shrugs.

"They were fighting. Almost hurt you. I went to grab the bed, and I did, and then I yelled at them. It was only a couple of seconds. I think it might've been a defence thing," he explains, fingers fidgeting. 

Klaus shrugs, waving open palms.  _Ben says yes,_ he signs, and Five vocalises it. 

"Fuck," Diego mutters, a hand running through his hair.

"That's... great, Klaus," says Allison, and Klaus smiles gently at her. 

Luther opens his mouth to say something, but the sound of the front door opening distracts him. They all turn to look towards the door and Diego stands up.

"I'll check it," he sighs, and his eyes linger on Klaus a moment before he walks out.

Klaus lets his eyes close, tipping his head back against the pillow. For a few moments, there's blissful silence, and then,

"Oh, fuck no. Get out. You're not allowed in here right now."

Diego's voice is barely restrained, just below a yell but just as cold and biting. 

"Please, Diego. I just want to see Klaus. I didn't mean to hurt him. Is he - is he okay?"

"What's it to you? He's not okay. He almost died - he _did_ die, Vanya. Because of you. Get out."

As his voice picks up everyone exchanges a look, and Allison hurries out the room, Luther close behind her. Klaus is mouthing  _Vanya, Vanya,_ and pulling the IV out of himself with a grimace. Five hesitates, hands by his side in fists, but he eventually steps closer, letting Klaus lean on him as they stagger out of the room.

"You shouldn't be walking right now," grumbles Five, looking at Klaus' pale but determined face. Klaus simply flips him off, proceeding forwards.

Vanya's teary eyed in the hallway, the lights above them swinging, and Luther has a hand on Diego's shoulder although none of them exactly seem to be trying to comfort Vanya. Klaus hobbles forwards, waving a hand to make his presence known, and Vanya gasps when she sees him. 

"Klaus," she sputters, "I'm, oh my god, I'm so sorry." She makes to step closer, hands hesitantly reaching out, and Diego snaps.

"Don't you _dare_ ," he hisses. "Get out, Vanya, get out!" His fingers itch over a knife and Vanya rambles tearful apologies and pleads, and Klaus pushes off Five and hurries forwards. He shoves past Diego and takes a look at his tearful, scared sister, and he smiles gently and wraps his arms around her. Vanya's fingers twist in the new shirt Grace had changed him into, and Klaus slumps. Without his voice he can't reply to her rambling, but he pulls back to look at everyone else, standing tense. Diego still looks furious, fists by his side, but he watches Klaus instead of Vanya.

 _She's our sister,_ he signs, looking to Five.  _Forgive her._

"Klaus," Diego sighs. He lets out a heavy breath, looking conflicted and upset. "You... you died in front of us, Klaus."

Klaus glances down at his feet, pursing his lips. He shrugs and glances back up.  _I'm fine,_ he mouths, throwing a shaky smile. The situation could be worse, at least. He can't bring himself to be mad at Vanya, though. Not when he can still remember how she had screamed in horror at herself, how she still rambled apologies. He knew she didn't mean it, and he couldn't bring himself to be mad. 

Klaus looks at his conflicted siblings and feels something build up in his chest. He's so tired, the events of the past week or so draining him out. He'd be damned if it continues now, even if his tattoos are ruined. Klaus tells himself the scars will look cool. 

 _We're family,_ he signs, mouthing at the same time.  _She didn't mean it._ He turns to look at Vanya and then back to his siblings. 

They'd had many problems growing up and in these past few days alone and Klaus was tired. Vanya needed their help, and fuck, so did Klaus. So did Five, and Diego, and all of them. Klaus repeats,  _we're family_ and  _she's our sister._

"He's right," Allison says, gentle. "We're family."

"What about Harold Jenkins? Leonard? Where is he, Vanya?" Five asks, turning to his sister. She's stopped crying though still looks extremely guilty and distressed, and she shakes her head.

"He's... he's gone. I killed him. It was an accident, I swear-"

"It's for the better," Five utters, waving her off. 

Klaus tries not to think too much about that. He nudges Vanya's side.

 _It's okay,_ he mouths, and he closes his burning eyes. It will be. Eventually.


End file.
